(PC) Rodriguez v. Clemmons

[7] 8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA [10] 11 JOSE DEJESUS RODRIGUEZ, Case No. 2:20-cv-00173-JDP (PC) 12 Plaintiff, ORDER DENYING MOTION TO APPOINT COUNSEL 13 v. ECF No. 37 14 MICHELLE CLEMMONS, 15 Defendant. [16] 17 Plaintiff is a former county jail inmate proceeding without counsel in this civil rights 18 action brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 . Plaintiff moves for the appointment of counsel. ECF No. 19 37. 20 Plaintiff does not have a constitutional right to appointed counsel in this action, see Rand 21 v. Rowland, 113 F.3d 1520, 1525 (9th Cir. 1997), and the court lacks the authority to require an 22 attorney to represent plaintiff. See Mallard v. U.S. District Court for the Southern District of 23 Iowa, 490 U.S. 296, 298 (1989). The court may request the voluntary assistance of counsel. See [24] 28 U.S.C. § 1915 (e)(1) (“The court may request an attorney to represent any person unable to 25 afford counsel”); Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525 . However, without a means to compensate counsel, the 26 court will seek volunteer counsel only in exceptional circumstances. In determining whether such 27 circumstances exist, “the district court must evaluate both the likelihood of success on the merits 28 [and] the ability of the [plaintiff] to articulate his claims pro se in light of the complexity of the 1 | legal issues involved.” Rand, 113 F.3d at 1525 (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). 2 The court cannot conclude that exceptional circumstances requiring the appointment of 3 | counsel are present here. The allegations in the complaint are not exceptionally complicated. 4 | Further, plaintiff has not demonstrated that he is likely to succeed on the merits. For these 5 | reasons, plaintiff's motion to appoint counsel, ECF No. 37, is denied without prejudice. 6 The court may revisit this issue at a later stage of the proceedings if the interests of justice 7 | sorequire. If plaintiff later renews his request for counsel, he should provide a detailed 8 | explanation of the circumstances that he believes justify appointment of counsel in this case. [9] 10 IT IS SO ORDERED. ( ie - Dated: _ January 4, 2021 Q_—— 12 JEREMY D. PETERSON B UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE